Press TV - India’s ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra says he is happy with the pace of development work by his country at a key port southeast of Iran.

Dharmendra told Press TV that India had never stopped operations at Chabahar, Iran’s only major ocean port located on the Sea of Oman, where New Delhi seeks to open a gateway to markets in Afghanistan and in the Central Asia region.

“I think we are making steady progress. As you know it is one year since we took over operations of the port. So now we are getting some approvals and procurement of equipment for the port,” Dharmendra said in the interview which was carried out late on Sunday.

The envoy said that India will increase its activity at Chabahar despite sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran.

He said officials from the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran and India’s Ministry of Shipping will meet in early February in New Delhi to make further progress on bilateral agreements on the port.

“We should be patient, these are capital projects. It’s only one year since we started operations but you know these circumstances are a little difficult,” Dharmendra said.
“We should be confident, we should be optimistic. We are putting every effort to make the port as successful as possible,” he added.
The ambassador said that Iran had made the right decision to engage in a partnership with India for development of Chabahar, a move he said was rooted in the trust that exists in relations between the two countries.

“We appreciate the trust Iran is putting in India as a partner in Chabahar so we really appreciate that and I think it is right choice,” he said.